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ITV Report

24 September 2012 at 2:29pm

A decade's worth of sexual exploitation "ignored" in South Yorkshire - claim

Sexual exploitation in Rotherham went "unpunished" for a decade - claim Photo:

A dossier of internal police, social services and intelligence reports alleges agencies in South Yorkshire were aware vulnerable girls were being abused, but a catalogue of suspected crimes were not prosecuted.

In one case, a white girl who was sexually abused by an Asian gang from the age of 12 was offered lessons in Urdu and Punjabi by her local council after her ordeal, to "try to engage her in education".

The papers revealed fifty-four children from Rotherham were linked to sexual exploitation by three brothers from a British Pakistani family.

An intelligence report for police identified 61 girls who were linked to sexual exploitation by three brothers from another British Pakistani family. It named 41 of the brothers' associates, who allegedly used girls for sex.

They also document an incident when neighbours heard screaming, and a 13-year-old girl was found at 3am in a house with a large group of men who had given her vodka. Police arrested the child for being drunk and disorderly but did not question the men.

The report, seen by The Times, states that such groups are believed to have trafficked victims to other cities and towns, including Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford and Dover.

Another confidential 2010 report, for the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Board, warns against drawing too much attention to the ethnic origin of the alleged abusers.

Neither South Yorkshire Police nor Rotherham Council has yet commented.